In 2004, following the success of their mp3-CD releases of The Abominable Snowmen/The Web of Fear, The Daleks' Master Plan and Death Comes to Time (all of which had been available on regular CD for some time, though were welcomed as single-CD releases), the team behind the BBC Radio Collection (soon to become BBC Audiobooks) realised that the mp3-CD was perfect for spoken word releases. They began by re-releasing the BBC's back-log of Doctor Who spoken word - from the 1995 Watershed Productions to Paul McGann's reading of the Novel of the Film and the 1998 Fiction Factory recordings - but soon invested in brand-new recordings based on the earliest of the Target Novelisations - the same range that Watershed had based their readings on, but entirely unabridged (a first since Gabriel Woolf's readings for the RNIB). With original music and effects to ease the listener into the reading (none of which, save for the TARDIS take-off, were taken from the televised stories, creating a new atmosphere in keeping with the magic of the books) and wonderfully expressive and relaxed readings by true spoken word professionals, these releases are probably the best that Doctor Who has ever had.

"It suddenly occurred to me that those books were so loved by fans of a certain age," explained commissioning editor Michael Stevens to SFX magazine in 2008. "They had been their only way of reliving Doctor Who adventures back in the '70s before the age of video. So many people had that shared experience of having owned a series of Target books and had very fond memories of them. They had been out of print for so many years, so it occurred to me that we could bring them back to life through audio readings. Once we decided that we could feasibly do a four-CD release, and that we could attract a pool of readers - who not only had been in Doctor Who, but were also skilled audio book readers - we thought that it was a great idea. And the fact that we are using the original artwork on the front and the original blurb on the back just makes it a great little nostalgic package." "They are, they're great," enthused editor/director Kate Thomas. "They’re little gems. They're very... simple isn't quite the right word, but they're really well-structured stories, with a solid beginning, middle and end."

Each release came in sturdy double-jewell cases adorned with illustrations from the original Target Books, with the inside-cover presenting alternative cover-art from earlier or later publications, taken from the established fan website On Target. Sleevenotes gave details on the most striking differences between the novelisation and its television counterpart (written by David J Howe, who published his The Target Book history of the range in 2007) and the writer and narrator were given detailed biographies.

Doctor Who and the Daleks (5 hours 25 mins)

The launch of this series was markedly different from the 4-CD audiobooks that would ultimately define it. William Russell's reading of the very first Doctor Who novelisation (published in 1964 and reprinted by numerous publishing houses before Target Books started their range) joined the small ranks of mp3-CDs that were carving a niche among Who merchandise. A continuous, 5-hour recording with a simple, repetative slideshow presentation for CD-Rom listeners (showing photographs from the studio session and the original line-drawings from the novelisation), the release gained excellent reviews but there were widespread calls for a 'proper' CD version that could be listened to away from the computer desk.

The music score is atmospheric and unearthly, using electronic sounds that are very similar to those produced for the television story. The opening music repeats at the beginning of each chapter, and introduces a change of scene within Chapter 3. A second piece, 'The Sands of Skaro', plays quietly in the background of many scenes, particularly those involving a perilous journey! Sound effects are added throughout the recording: brief effects include a match striking, the TARDIS take-off (which continues throughout Ian's nightmare in Chapter 2), the TARDIS landing (looped as Ian threatens to kick the doors down, then with a single groan added moments later as "the floor gave a final shudder", and again at the end of Chapter 10 – which isn't in the book!), the opening and closing of Dalek city doors, alarm sirens, explosions, splashes, and an extermination effect. Longer effect sequences occur as Daleks burn through walls; the Thals are trapped and thirty Daleks exterminate Temmosus (featuring the sound of a crowd panicking); the sea monster attacks the expedition party (with burning torches, crashing waves and roaring monsters); and the finale in the control room (where we hear the glass Dalek screech and shatter, explosions and gun-blasts, clangs of metal and dying machinery). Background ambiance is also added to appropriate scenes, with whirring effects for the interior of the TARDIS (in Chapters 2 and 9), the Dalek city (as the travellers admire it from a distance in Chapter 3) and the Dalek Control Room, a throbbing effect which returns each time a Dalek speaks in later chapters.

Since the novel was written from Ian's perspective and told in the first-person, it makes for an excellent talking book and William Russell seems to thoroughly enjoy himself, taking his time over the evocative descriptive passages and providing a wide range of character voices to bring the story to life; it is a delightful performance and a joy to listen to, particularly since it is a complete re-telling of the Doctor Who legend that bares scant relation to the televised story. An electronic effect is added to all Dalek dialogue (which Russell rasps in a suitable monotone) with a higher-pitch screech for the glass Dalek in Chapter 9. In Chapter 5 there is the sound of distorted burbling to represent “the voice of the Dalek squawking ... the words were quite indistinguishable, as if somone was being choked". The Doctor's dialogue at the end of chapter 1 ("The point is, can I let you go now?") echoes, as Ian loses consciousness.

Any instances where the original text was repetitive or clumsy (eg. “the fog swallowed up the headlights of my car and the fog pressed in around us”, p.9) have been tidied-up for the reading, resulting in occasional – extremely minor – omissions or changes that improve David Whitaker's grammar! Russell has a habit of removing or adding words as he reads: missing words include "I can't let any of us go down there [alone]" (p.44) or "beckoning [to] the two girls urgently" (p.85), whilst words added to the text include "stepped back (down) onto the road" (p.9), “I crossed over (to it)” (p.12), "Do you mean (that) you may never take us back" (p.46), "I could see (the) numbers spinning around" (p.48) and many other trivial additions, none of which particularly change the text. Any changes, additions or omissions that we feel significantly changes the meaning of a sentence are listed below; this represents around a quarter of the total mis-readings. (Round brackets indicate an added word; square bracketed words are missed; page numbers are from the first Target edition.)

p10 "(Suddenly,) someone, somewhere, struck a match"
p10 "studying me as I [raced] to get down" – read as 'hurried'
p15 "He shot (me) a look [at me] of such intense directness that I blinked"
p29 "I didn't have any [more] trouble (any more)"
p36 “known and [proved] scientific fact” – read as 'proven'
p47 "Susan said" is moved to after her line of dialogue, not before; a similar change occurs on p124
p55 “pressed downwards” is read as 'pressed it down'
p56 “several doors [on] it” is read as 'in it'
p56 "almost at the same [moment]” – read as 'time'
p58 "shared [with] some other substance" – read as 'by'
p59/60 "[and] at first I thought that [these] were two more eyes [until]
suddenly they [started to] light up" – read as 'at first I thought that they were two more eyes but suddenly they lit up'
p72 "I'd arrange with the Daleks for them to give [him] some" – read as 'them'
p79 “tacky” changed to 'sticky'
p81 “raise” read as 'rise'
p83 “it's speed of movement” read as 'the speed of it's movement'
p88 "I want to go with you,' [she] protested" – read as 'Barbara protested'
p91-3 "demanding common sense and reason [to pay him attention]"
p99 “It [seems] that this is the only city with any living thing” is read as 'seemed'
p114 "When he was escaping with his brother(s)"
p118 "the horrified question[s] we asked"
p120 “Wherever” read as "Whenever"
p145 'desperately struggling' read as "struggling desperately"
p155 "you would be assured of (a) good position[s]"

The reading proved so popular that the Restoration Team, putting together bonus features for The Web Planet DVD, asked William Russell to record some of the short stories originally published in the first Doctor Who Annual, one of which - The Lair of Zarbi Supremo - was a direct sequel to The Web Planet. Similarly off-the-wall and very much in the style of the David Whitaker novel, Russell's reading of the story ran to almost an hour, and for space-reasons the team decided not to record the other story after all. It appeared on the DVD as a special feature, playing to a static screen showing the illustrations from the Annual itself. [Further details on this release are in our comprehensive DVD Guide]

Travels in Time and Space

This superbly illustrated, limited edition contains the complete and unabridged readings of three classic Doctor Who novelisations, each read by William Russell and enhanced with original music and special effects.

Doctor Who and the Daleks is the Doctor's first exciting adventure with the ruthless natives of the planet Skaro, and the book in which Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright join the Doctor and Susan aboard the TARDIS. In Doctor Who and the Crusaders, the scene of adventure is the 12th Century Holy Land, where the TARDIS crew encounters Richard the Lionheart in his war against the Saracens. Doctor Who and the Zarbi finds the TARDIS drawn to the eerie planet Vortis, on which the Doctor and his companions encounter a host of alien creatures including the Menoptera, the Animus and the Zarbi.

Reader William Russell played Ian Chesterton in the original television series; this makes him a superb choice of reader for these classic, fondly-remembered books (published as Target Paperbacks in the 1970s). In addition to the readings, he also shared his memories of making the stories for television. This is the first and only time these readings will be available on CD.

Original press release

Doctor Who and the Daleks

Doctor Who and the DaleksRead by William RussellWritten by David WhitakerProduced by Andrew Lawrence

Based on the BBC television serial by Terry NationMusic score and special effects mixed and recorded by Simon E. Power for Meon Productions at The Marine Centre, BathExecutive producer: Michael Stevens

The Sands of Skaro composed and performed by Simon E. PowerTARDIS sound effect composed by Brian Hodgson

CD 1

1

Chapter One: A Meeting on the Common

11

Chapter Two: Prisoners in Space

CD 2

1

Chapter Three: The Dead Planet

12

Chapter Four: The Power of the Daleks

CD 3

1

Chapter Five: Escape into Danger

12

Chapter Six: The Will to Survive

CD 4

1

Chapter Seven: The Lake of Mutations

18

Chapter Eight: The Last Despairing Try

CD 5

1

Chapter Nine: The End of the Power

16

Chapter Ten: A New Life

18

William Russell discusses Doctor Who and the Daleks

The CD version of this reading appears to have been produced directly from the mp3-CD, as the narration is still audibly digitally-compressed and the music simply fades in and out at the beginning and end of each disc, rather than being remixed to allow for smoother openings and endings. CD1 is missing one track (lasting two and-a-half minutes) from Chapter Two, beginning on p31 with "She moved away from the glass door" up to p32, ending with "I want those doors open and no more arguments"; the cut narration describes Susan's errors in her history classes and explains Barbara's curiosity about the Doctor. Replacement CD-Rs were distributed in late 2007 after several fans noticed and complained loudly on messageboards, publicising the error only after several years! The mistake only affected the CDs; downloadable versions (from Audible, iTunes, etc) were complete.

Doctor Who and the Crusaders

Doctor Who and the Crusaders
Read by William RussellWritten by David WhitakerProduced by Andrew Lawrence

Based on the BBC television serial The Crusade by David WhitakerMusic score and special effects mixed and recorded by Simon E. Power for Meon Productions at The Marine Centre, BathExecutive producer: Michael Stevens

CD 1

1

Prologue

8

Chapter One: Death in the Forest

18

Chapter Two: The Knight of Jaffa

CD 2

1

Chapter Three: A New Scheherazade

19

Chapter Four: The Wheel of Fortune

CD 3

1

Chapter Four: The Wheel of Fortune (cont'd)

9

Chapter Five: The Doctor in Disgrace

CD 4

1

Chapter Six: The Triumph of El Akir

16

Chapter Seven: The Will of Allah

CD 5

1

Chapter Seven: The Will of Allah (cont'd)

5

Chapter Eight: Demons and Sorcerers

31

William Russell talks about Doctor Who and the Crusaders

Doctor Who and the Zarbi

Doctor Who and the Zarbi
Read by William RussellWritten by Bill StruttonProduced by Andrew Lawrence

Based on the BBC television serial The Web Planet by Bill StruttonMusic score and special effects mixed and recorded by Simon E. Power for Meon Productions at The Marine Centre, BathExecutive producer: Michael Stevens

CD 1

1

Chapter One: The Web Planet

24

Chapter Two: The Zarbi

CD 2

1

Chapter Two: The Zarbi (cont'd)

CD 3

1

Chapter Three: Escape to Danger

21

Chapter Four: The Crater of Needles

CD 4

1

Chapter Four: The Crater of Needles (cont'd)

18

Chapter Five: Invasion

CD 5

1

Chapter Five: Invasion (cont'd)

11

Chapter Six: Centre of Terror

31

William Russell discusses Doctor Who and the Zarbi

Doctor Who and the Cave Monsters (5 hours 15 mins)

Doctor Who and the Cave MonstersWritten by Malcolm HulkeRead by Caroline John

Based on the BBC television serial Doctor Who and the Silurians by Malcolm HulkeReading produced by Anna LeaMusic composed by Simon E. PowerMusic score and special effects mixed and recorded by Simon Power for Meon Productions at the Marine Centre, EvercreechExecutive Producer: Michael Stevens

CD 1

1

Chapter 1: Prologue: The Little Planet

4

Chapter 2: The Doctor Gets a Message

12

Chapter 3: The Traitor

17

Chapter 4: Power Loss

21

Chapter 5: The Fighting Monster

CD 2

1

Chapter 6: Into the Caves

3

Chapter 7: Quinn Visits his Friends

6

Chapter 8: Into an Alien World

10

Chapter 9: The Search

13

Chapter 10: Man Trap

17

Chapter 11: The Doctor Makes a Visit

20

Chapter 12: Goodbye, Dr Quinn

CD 3

1

Chapter 13: The Prisoner

7

Chapter 14: Man from the Ministry

12

Chapter 15: Attack and Counter-Attack

CD 4

4

Chapter 16: The Itch

8

Chapter 17: Epidemic

17

Chapter 18: A Hot World

23

Chapter 19: The Lie

Malcolm Hulke's novelisation is remarkably different from his television scripts: characters are given full and fascinating back-stories and internal thoughts; events and scenes are casually changed or rearranged; and whole plot-strands are re-imagined, particularly after the virus is released (Masters' and Dr Lawrence's deaths are both completely different, for instance, to their televised ends).

Nearly all the book's characters are men, and Caroline John is forced to adopt a variety of deep voices that seriously limit the pace and range of her voice. The result is a very slow, deliberate and repetitive reading, varied only by the array of regional accents that John adopts for the book's minor characters - her Scottish, Welsh, Brummie and Somerset accents are particularly fun! All Silurian voices are treated with an electronic effect that is suitably akin to the TV series. Sound effects are minimal (the most sparse recording to date): the Tyrannosaurus rex roars in Chapters 5, 6 and 15; wandering footsteps are heard in Chapter 5; and the Doctor's "Hello?" is echoed, as if in a cave, in the same chapter. Simon Power's music at the start - guttural, deep, electronic weirdness - repeats at the change of paragraph in the Prologue and thereafter at the beginning of each chapter only - a very stark use of music compared to other releases. The end of CD3 occurs on p119, mid-Chapter 15, with music at the close of CD3 and beginning of CD4 around an otherwise uninterrupted break in the reading.

Caroline John reads, for the first time in this series, the Changing Face of Doctor Who. She reduces many pairs of words to abbreviations ("We are" to 'we're', "it is" to 'it's', etc), but otherwise reads with spectacular accuracy, introducing very few changes from the Target book. The biggest difference comes in the Prologue, where some of the 'he said' and 'said Okdel's are removed to make the dialogue more script-like. In line with other releases, the footnote (detailing the process of induction) on p31 is not read. All other changes are detailed below. (Round brackets indicate an added word; square bracketed words are missed; page numbers are from the first edition.)

"The cover illustration [and others contained within this book] portray(s) the third Doctor Who"
p8 "When the (little) planet draws away"
p37 "what Jung meant by 'the collective [unconscious]'" - read as 'memory'
p38 "Liz Shaw" is shortened to 'Liz'
p46 "reminded him of (the) times when he had gone hunting"
p47 "he wanted to make [quite] sure that if they found a spy"
p56 "Making the journey had been more difficult than [he] expected" - read as 'he'd'
p57 "The [woman] just stood there" - read as 'female'
p68 "We understand that he was struck (by) a blow"
p74 "You've had quite a [bit] done, haven't you?" - read as 'lot'
p74 "[The] place is as hot as the reptile-house in the zoo" - read as 'this'
p82 "mount some sort of (a) man-hunt in the surrounding countryside"
p100 "the one soldier left at the mouth of the cave would know what (had) happened to them"
p102 "I thought you were going to get help [for] our side!" - read as 'from'
p129 "Whatever he told you, [it] isn't true"
p130 "There was a long straight stretch of road [away]" - read as 'ahead', correcting a mis-print from the book
p131 "the (young) doctor tried to grab him" - a necessary addition to differentiate this character from the Doctor; in the book the lower-case 'd' does the job!
p148 "We shall not try [again] to destroy the humans"
p151-2 "but [that] won't be necessary" - read as 'it'
p155 "'What I said was true,' [the Doctor answered]" - read as 'said the Doctor'
p158 "the entrance to the cave collapsed in a [huge] deluge of huge rocks" - another correction

Doctor Who and the Doomsday Weapon

Doctor Who and the Doomsday WeaponWritten by Malcolm HulkeRead by Geoffrey Beevers

Based on the BBC television serial Doctor Who - Colony in Space by Malcolm HulkeReading produced by Andrew LawrenceMusic score and special effects mixed and recorded by Simon Power for Meon Productions at the Marine Centre, EvercreechDoomsday Planet composed by Simon E. PowerExecutive Producer: Michael Stevens

CD 1

1

Chapter 1: A Missing Secret

5

Chapter 2: Into Time and Space

9

Chapter 3: The Planet

16

Chapter 4: The Monster

20

Chapter 5: Starvation

23

Chapter 6: The Survivor

CD 2

1

Chapter 7: The Robot

6

Chapter 8: The Men from IMC

13

Chapter 9: The Spy

16

Chapter 10: The Claw

20

Chapter 11: Face-to-Face

CD 3

1

Chapter 12: The Bomb

7

Chapter 13: The Attack

13

Chapter 14: The Adjudicator

17

Chapter 15: Primitive City

23

Chapter 16: The Ambush

CD 4

1

Chapter 17: Captain Dent Thinks Twice

2

Chapter 18: The Master's TARDIS

5

Chapter 19: The Return of Captain Dent

7

Chapter 20: The Doomsday Weapon

22

Chapter 21: Mission Completed

Doctor Who and the Giant Robot (3 hours 40 mins)

Doctor Who and the Giant RobotWritten by Terrance DicksRead by Tom Baker

Based on the BBC television serial Robot by Terrance DicksReading produced by Kate ThomasMusic composed by Simon E. PowerMusic score and special effects mixed and recorded by Simon ower for Meon Productions at the Marine Centre, Evercreech www.meonsound.comExecutive Producer: Michael StevensTARDIS sound effect composed by Brian HodgsonCover illustration by Jeff Cummins

CD 1

1

Chapter 1: Killer in the Night

8

Chapter 2: Something More than Human

14

Chapter 3: Trouble at Thinktank

CD 2

1

Chapter 4: Robot!

6

Chapter 5: The Killer Strikes Again

12

Chapter 6: Trapped by the Robot

CD 3

1

Chapter 7: The World in Danger

7

Chapter 8: In the Hands of the Enemy

13

Chapter 9: The Battle at the Bunker

CD 4

1

Chapter 10: The Countdown Begins

6

Chapter 11: The Kidnapping of Sarah

13

Chapter 12: The Giant Terror

The music for this story is full of suspenseful strings and military-sounding drums, very much in the style of Dudley Simpson's television score. There are short bursts at every paragraph- and chapter-change (with the sole exception of a silent paragraph-change on p15) and many continuous paragraphs are frequently broken-up with extra music cues when a change of location takes place. Sound effects added to the reading include a low hum and computer beeps for the robot (present whenever he appears or speaks); feedback noises on the radio conversations; electric sparks as the robot snaps wires (Chapter 2); machine-gun fire (Chapter 3); blasts from the Disintegrator Gun (Chapters 5 and 9-11); the TARDIS interior (re-used from Doctor Who and the Daleks, in Chapters 2 and 12); and Brian Hodgson's original TARDIS take-off and landing effects. The robot's voice is treated electronically throughout (including the opening POV narrative sequence), with extra echoes when he is at giant size in Chapter 12, and, at one point, dialogue is echoed as if heard from inside the robot's head (Jellicoe's line 'prepare for visual scanning,' Chapter 5, p54). Occasionally dialogue is treated to sound as though it is coming from a radio transmitter or telephone line. In Chapter 4, Jellicoe's line 'I really am most terribly sorry' is given a far-away echo as Sarah comes round.

Tom reads energetically and urgently, with a subtle range of character voices: the Brigadier is gruff and stern, Sarah is softly-spoken, Jellicoe is hyperactive and Professor Kettlewell is unhinged from the beginning! The Doctor's diversionary performance on stage in Chapter 8 is read in an old-music-hall style voice, differing from Tom's televised performance. He adds occasional 'mm's, 'hmm's and laughter in the reading of dialogue, and there are some small deviations from the text of the novel. Some changes alter the tense of sentences, as in 'why did you tell me about it?' (which is changed to 'why are you telling me about it,' p11), and some are probably mistakes in the reading, as in 'the metal casket with its precious contents' (which is read as 'present contents,' p36). Aside from very minor changes (which include 'it was' read as 'it's', or 'the giant face' read as 'the giant's face', etc) these deviations are listed below.

Doctor Who and the Space WarWritten by Malcolm HulkeRead by Geoffrey Beevers

Based on the BBC television serial Frontier in SpaceText (c) Malcolm Hulke 1976Reading produced by Andrew LawrenceMusic composed by Simon E. PowerMusic score and special effects mixed and recorded by Simon ower for Meon Productions at the Marine Centre, Evercreech www.meonsound.comExecutive Producer: Michael StevensTARDIS sound effect composed by Brian HodgsonCover illustration by Chris Achilleos

CD 1

1-6

Chapter 1: Link-up in Space

7-15

Chapter 2: The Draconian Prince

16-21

Chapter 3: Stowaways

CD 2

1-3

Chapter 3: Stowaways cont.

4-8

Chapter 4: The Mind Probe

9-13

Chapter 5: Kidnap

14-18

Chapter 6: Prison on the Moon

19-21

Chapter 7: The Master

CD 3

1-4

Chapter 7: The Master cont.

5-9

Chapter 8: Space Walk

10-16

Chapter 9: Frontier in Space

17-18

Chapter 10: The Verge of War

CD 4

1-4

Chapter 10: The Verge of War cont.

5-9

Chapter 11: Planet of the Ogrons

10-19

Chapter 12: The Trap

Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius (3 hours 55 mins)

Doctor Who and the Brain of MorbiusWritten by Terrance DicksRead by Tom Baker

Based on the BBC television serial The Brain of MorbiusText (c) Terrance Dicks and Robin Bland 1977Reading produced by Anna LeaMusic composed by Simon E. PowerMusic score and special effects mixed and recorded by Simon Power for Meon Productions at the Marine Centre, Evercreech www.meonsound.comExecutive Producer: Michael StevensTARDIS sound effect composed by Brian HodgsonCover illustration by Mike LittleWhilst every effort has been made to contact the copyright holder of the jacket image, we were unable to do so

CD 1

1-7

Chapter 1: A Graveyard of Spaceships

8-14

Chapter 2: The Keepers of the Flame

15-20

Chapter 3: The Horror Behind the Curtain

CD 2

1-6

Chapter 4: Captive of the Flame

7-11

Chapter 5: Sarah to the Rescue

12-17

Chapter 6: The Horror in the Crypt

CD 3

1-6

Chapter 7: Solon's Trap

7-12

Chapter 8: The Doctor Makes a Bargain

13-20

Chapter 9: The Monster Wakes

CD 4

1-7

Chapter 10: The Monster on the Rampage!

8-13

Chapter 11: Deathlock!

14-15

Chapter 12: A Time Lord Spell

Once again there is music at every chapter- and paragraph-change (with the exceptions of silent paragraph-changes on p113 and p115); the music is nice and varied, ranging from orchestral action music (very much in the style of Murray Gold) to the spooky and spiritual, in particular a great flute motif that plays throughout the brief cutaways to the Sisterhood of Karn. Sound effects are minimal: thunder, rain and wind in Chapters 1, 2, 9 and 10 and a slamming door in Chapter 3, plus the TARDIS take-off/landing. A rasping electronic voice effect is added to all of Morbius's dialogue and a throbbing machinery sound effect plays beneath it - including his appearances at the end of the story when he is actually out of his tank! There is a mistake on p131 when the voice effect is not used ("'Gas,' said Morbius. 'How ingenious, Doctor.'"). Other vocal effects are limited to an echo on Condo's line "Master, Master, come quickly" (heard from down a corridor, p69) and a muffled echo on Solon's "When Condo returns, you shall die!" (as Sarah traps him in the cellar, p81).

As the sleevenotes point out, Terrance Dicks' novelisation remains steadfastly faithful to the televised story; the most dramatic deviation is the Sisterhood's black (instead of magenta) robes! For the second time, the "changing face of Doctor Who" is read aloud - the pattern seems to be that in each case, the Doctor's face is actually on the chosen front cover. This time, Tom adds a whispered "me!" to the announcement. Throughout the reading, Tom pronounces Solon to rhyme with "so long", not "sullen" as in the televised story; he also reads "chameleon" with a soft 'c' on p15. Voices chosen for Condor and the Sisterhood closely match their televised performances, though he does not immitate Phillip Madoc: he speaks Solon's dialogue with an elderly squeak.

There are continuous minor changes to the text; several words are made plural ("ruin" changes to 'ruins' on p8, for instance), words such as 'and', 'that', 'was', 'got' or 'a' are ommitted or added in the reading (as in "the laboritory (was) now fully revealed", p45, or "you have but [a] little time left", p49) and each instance where the TARDIS is referred to as a "square, blue shape" (on p24, p70 and twice on p34) the 'square' is dropped, as in Tom's reading of The Giant Robot. Other changes/subsitutions are listed below. (Round brackets indicate an added word; square bracketed words are missed; page numbers are from the first edition.)

p9 "realised that [here] was no help" - read as 'there', a possible mis-reading
p10 "There was another [lightning flash]" - read as 'flash of lightning'
p11 "That won't do. [No,] even if the ganglia could be reconnected..." - read as 'not'
p17 "It's incredible. (I mean,) Why should they all have crashed here?"
p25 "the [incredibly] old face" - read as 'incredible'
p29 "Condo, what [are] you thinking?" - read as 'were'
p44 "the giant claw [stretched] out towards her" - read as 'reached'
p46 "The drug - did you put [all of it] in?" - read as 'it all'
p53 "who was it [who] saved you?" - read as 'that'
p55 "thrust their [flaming] brands" - read as 'burning'
p76 "Where [have] you come from?" - read as 'did'
p80 "Naturally that is [how] you think now" - read as 'what'
p84 "The Doctor [too is] insolent" - read as 'is too', which changes the meaning
p98 "She put a [hand out]" - read as 'out a hand'
p99 "Why did [it take you] so long" - read as 'did you take'
p119 "'Gone [for a lurch, I think],' said the Doctor cheerfully" - a curious ommission, possibly because of the uncharacteristicly tasteless joke
p120 "filled them with a colourless [fluid]" - read as 'liquid'
p123 "It lurched [onto] the Doctor" - read as 'into'

Based on the BBC television serial The Myth Makers by Donald Cotton Text (c) Donald Cotton 1985Reading produced by Jo PalmerMusic composed by Simon E. PowerMusic score and special effects mixed and recorded by Simon Power for Meon Productions at the Marine Centre, Evercreech www.meonsound.comExecutive Producer: Michael StevensTARDIS sound effect composed by Brian HodgsonCover illustration by Andrew SkilleterWhilst every effort has been made to contact the copyright holder of the jacket image, we were unable to do so

CD 1

1

Chapter 1: Homer Remembers

4

Chapter 2: Zeus Ex Machina

7

Chapter 3: Hector Forgets

11

Chapter 4: Enter Odysseus

14

Chapter 5: Exit the Doctor

16

Chapter 6: A Rather High Tea

CD 2

1

Chapter 7: Agamemnon Arbitrates

3

Chapter 8: An Execution is Arranged

7

Chapter 9: Temple Fugit

10

Chapter 10: The Doctor Draws a Graph

12

Chapter 11: Paris Draws the Line

16

Chapter 12: Small Prophet, Quick Return

21

Chapter 13: War Games Compulsory

CD 3

1

Chapter 14: Single Combat!

3

Chapter 15: Speech! Speech!

5

Chapter 16: The Trojans at Home

9

Chapter 17: Cassandra Claims a Kill

11

Chapter 18: The Ultimate Weapon

15

Chapter 19: A Council of War

18

Chapter 20: Paris Stands on Ceremony

21

Chapter 21: Dungeon Party

CD 4

1

Chapter 22: Hull Low, Young Lovers

4

Chapter 23: A Victory Celebration

7

Chapter 24: Doctor in the Horse

9

Chapter 25: A Little Touch of Hubris

12

Chapter 26: Abandon Ship

15

Chapter 27: Armageddon and After

18

Epilogue

As the sleevenotes point out, this novelisation broke the mould of Doctor Who adaptations, telling the entire story from the viewpoint of the poet Homer (whilst using modern-day language and references) and embellishing the televised story with historical details and back-story at every turn. Like Doctor Who and the Daleks, the first-person narrative makes it absolutely ideal for an audiobook, and Stephen Thorne - the voice of Azal, Omega and Eldrad - puts his extensive radio experience to the task admirably, giving Homer a knowledgeable but cheeky character and providing a range of accents and voices for the cast (including a dithering Hartnell that ties-in perfectly with William Russell’s version from earlier audiobooks). Music and effects are minimal, with the music sounding – for once – a little out-of-place, being in an action/adventure bombastic style while the narration itself is rather more relaxed and languorous.

Doctor Who and the Creature from the Pit (3 hours 40 mins)

Doctor Who and the Creature from the PitWritten by David FisherRead by Tom Baker

Based on the BBC television serial The Creature from the Pit by David FisherText (c) David Fisher 1981Reading produced by Ed Corn at Heavy EntertainmentMusic composed by Simon E. PowerMusic score and special effects mixed and recorded by Simon Power for Meon Productions at the Marine Centre, Evercreech www.meonsound.comExecutive Producer: Michael StevensTARDIS sound effect composed by Brian HodgsonCover illustration by Steve Kyte

CD 1

1

Chapter 1: The Pit

2

Chapter 2: Wolfweeds

6

Chapter 3: The Doctor's Leap to Death

15

Chapter 4: The Creature

CD 2

1

Chapter 5: Organon

8

Chapter 6: The Web

13

Chapter 7: The Meeting

CD 3

1

Chapter 8: The Shield

9

Chapter 9: Erato

CD 4

1

Chapter 10: Complications

11

Chapter 11: Wrapping Up

Hardly one of the greatest television stories, or one of the fondly-remembered novelisations, even David J Howe’s sleevenotes are at a loss to describe anything particularly redemptive about this release: that the Creature can be imagined rather than seen is his best recommendation! As with Doctor Who and the Zarbi, Simon E Power seizes the opportunity to provide a much better soundscape for the alien planet than the television production managed, and there are excellent jungle soundscapes and spot-effects of numerous guns, whips and creature snarls throughout the reading, with the music covering a range of moods and styles (the Kinda-esque tribal sounds being particularly interesting) that easily trump Dudley Simpson’s conventional score. Tom Baker reads with great energy: his voices and accents are once again entertainingly varied (his Lady Adrasta has to be heard to be believed) and he seems to be enjoying the silly puns as much as he did the first time round… yet it’s questionable whether good narration and imaginative sound design can do anything to enliven such a sub-standard story.

The Tenth Doctor Novels

In July 2006 three new talking-books were published to coincide with the end of the second series on television. David Tennant read abridged versions of the first three tie-in novels to feature his incarnation and Rose; these books had originally been published in April and followed on from 6 similar novels featuring the ninth Doctor. Each audiobook in this range featured the Murray Gold arrangement of the Doctor Who theme, but otherwise no sound effects or incidental music; a first for Doctor Who audios since the TV Movie cassette, and a surprising step-back after the success of the music- and effects-laiden Classic Novels. As a bonus, however, the discs included brief interviews with the authors, in keeping with the fashion of interviewing the narrator that had been established with the Television Soundtrack releases.

A second batch was released in November, covering the 10th, 11th and 12th novels that had been published that September, this time read by an assortment of male actors from the new television series: Don Warrington (the President in Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel), Anthony Head (the headmaster in School Reunion) and Shaun Dingwall (Rose's father), with bonus tracks of the narrators in conversation with the authors. The following July, members of the Jones family from Series Three read a further three adventures (published as books in April), and the three novels from September 2007 were released by Audiobooks in March 2008 read by Agyeman and Will Thorp (from The Impossible Planet). The three novels from December 2007 are scheduled for the Audiobook treatment in July 2008.

The releases sold well and reached the top 10 of most spoken word charts during the run up to Christmas 2006, with each new release hitting the charts almost immediately. The range was given a massive boost when two of the stories - The Stone Rose and The Feast of the Drowned - were given away over four issues of the Radio Times, spanning Christmas 2006/New Year 2007. (These discs did not include the author interviews but were otherwise identical in content to the commercial releases.) The Feast of the Drowned was then available in 2008 as a free gift to anyone subscribing to Doctor Who Adventures.

In late 2007, BBC Audiobooks moved into commissioning original stories to be read as audio novels. This was partly the result of an experiment with publishing abridged versions of Torchwood novels – which wasn’t deemed a total success. Two original Sarah Jane audios followed. "We simply asked the Doctor Who production team if we could do it," commissioning editor Michael Stevens told SFX magazine in April 2008. "We’d recorded a number of abridged readings of the BBC books, and they were really popular and successful, but they are always shadowing the original book. We wanted to commission stories that were originally written for the voice, so that they would lift off the page beautifully, and also have something that was exclusive to us. If you want to hear a brand new story featuring the Doctor and Donna, you will only get this particular one with BBC Audio."

"As these are written specifically for the ear, they lift straight off the page," Audiobooks editor/director Kate Thomas explained in the same interview. "It’s a very different dynamic to the Classics or even the abridgments, which were written as books and are a retelling, if you like, of the book. These are stand-alone audios. Particularly with the 'Pest Control' script, which is coming up, the author's managed to capture both the Doctor and Donna and the dynamic that they have on screen. And because he knows it’s going to be spoken, there's a lot of dialogue between them that achieves that." "Getting David was a huge coup," admited Stevens. "We were absolutely delighted that he agreed to read it, because we know just how busy he is. We were really proud that he wanted to come back, because he recorded three books for us two years ago and he did a fantastic job. Due to the fact that he is Doctor Who, we hadn’t managed to get him back. And he knows he can’t just roll up and record it without giving it some preparation. He's the sort of reader who sits down and studies what all the characters are going to sound like, he works all that out. Now he's going to read 'Pest Control' it feels like a really exciting way to be launching the range."